Summary: To challenge church members to be openly and dedicated to reach more people with the Gospel

Ac 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.

44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common; (We see the unity of the Holy Spirit.)

45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. (KJV)

INTRODUCTION: They gladly received the word that Peter had preached. That must be the response to preaching for people to get saved. People must receive the word of God gladly. Salvation requires a response to God’s Word. Have you ever stopped to think about the effort and energy that had to be given on the Day of Pentecost? In order for what happened, to happen, there was much work done. Think about it for a moment. Suppose our pastor planned a “3000” Sunday – he tells us we are going to baptize 3000 converts – what would be your response?

If this church does what our pastor wants it to do – If we see the growth he desires – if we evangelize the number of people he is challenging us to do - then:

(Get these points)

A. A Lot Of People Must Do A Lot Of Work. (That will scare some off right there) When the preacher startes talking about a lot of work people get skiddish.

Think of the dedication and commitment required by the membership of the church in Acts 2.

We have picked up at the very end of a church service. 3000 people had just gotten saved and were baptized, and added to the church membership. Can you imagine the magnitude of that service? 3000 people got saved – 3000 got baptized – 3000 were added to the church. That sounds to me like a LONG DAYS WORK. They didn’t get home by 12:30 that day. The roast was surely burned by the time they got home, and the ball game was over.

Let’s think about this a little bit. Vs. 41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

In Vs. 41 the Bible says the “same day”. What day?

The same day that they got saved they also got baptized and were admitted to the church. This wasn’t the closing service of a six week revival – it all took place in one day – the same day.

The same day that Peter preached the Pentecost sermon. That same day.

The same day that the Holy Spirit descended following the ascension of Christ. Somehow or other that sounds to me like a lengthy service. There had to be some kind of identification made for the 3000. Someone must have taken their names. Someone surely checked them out to see if they really made a decision or not. Several “someone’s” did the baptizing. They didn’t line them up and squirt them with a water hose. They all were baptized by immersion. All of this didn’t take place in ten minutes. A long period of time took place to accomplish all that happened that day.